Towards a religiously literate curriculum – religion and worldview literacy as an educational model

The phrase ‘religious literacy’ whilst contested, is increasingly used both within Religious Education and more broadly in a range of professions and settings to describe a level of knowledge and understanding about the diverse religion and belief landscape and the skills to be able to engage with that diversity in a positive way. Taking as a starting point a four-part theoretical framework for religious literacy, consisting of a) category b) disposition c) knowledge and d) skills, this is examined in relation to learning about religion and worldviews in schools and developed into an educational model. Drawing on data from a national study into stakeholders’ views on the future of teaching and learning about religion and worldviews in schools, this article explores the potential of ‘religion and worldview literacy’ to reconcile stakeholders’ aspirations for the purpose and content of learning in RE. Religion and worldview literacy is presented as a model with potential to bridge perceived tensions between intrinsic and instrumental aims of RE and concerns around its knowledge-base.